Legacy API versions include older API documentation that can be decommissioned at any time. We highly recommend that you upgrade or implement our latest API version, which is currently API 6.0 for all three protocols - SOAP, JSON-RPC, REST.

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Overview

Email Editor helps you customize HTML and plain text emails that 2Checkout sends to shoppers and resellers.

Use HTML and CSS customizations and adjust your emails to:

• Reflect your brand identity
• Grow your conversion, retention, click-through/open rates
• Be transparent in your communication with shoppers

Availability

Contact the 2Checkout Sales team to have Email Editor enabled on your account.

Content translation limitations

2Checkout does not provide localized versions for custom templates you create. Should you need localized versions for your own templates, add them manually to the Email Editor, for each language.

Email Editor does not currently support batch email importing.

Simple vs. Advanced customization

Email Editor is available in two versions, each with its own specific set of functionalities.

Depending on the type of access to the Email Editor, you will be able to perform specific actions on any of the above emails, as follows:

On the Standard Email Editor:

• View HTML/text content for your emails, preview them, and send test emails
• Create custom themes and apply them to your emails
• Use available variables to place dynamic content in your themes (such as images, support information, etc.). Please check this section to retrieve information on available variables, their description, and default preview values.

On the Advanced Email Editor:

• View HTML/text content for your emails, preview them, and send test emails
• Create custom themes (master layouts) and apply them to your emails
• Create custom content for your emails (both styling and content customization are available). Build multiple drafts of your emails and activate one of them when ready.

Use available variables to place dynamic content in your emails (such as first name, last name, order reference number, etc.). Please check this section to retrieve information on available variables, their description, and default preview values.

Themes

Themes govern common elements to multiple emails, such as the header and footer. Define themes to reflect these common parts of your emails – and later, apply them to part/all of your emails (without having to rewrite the same part of the HTML code multiple times).

Content is specific to each individual type of email and varies depending on the event that triggers the message.

[% $EMAIL_CONTENT %] variable

The [% $EMAIL_CONTENT %] variable holds the content of each email. This variable is mandatory when saving changes to a theme.

Master themes

By default, all emails use one of the two versions of 2Checkout Master Themes:

• Streamlined – for those emails redesigned during 2016
• Standard – for the rest of the emails

2Checkout applies the theme of your choice to the content specific to each email.

Create custom themes

Custom themes are available to all accounts and both the Standard and Advanced versions of the Email Editor. You can:

• Create themes using content from the default ones (as a starting point)
• Create themes from scratch

How to include content in emails

Include the mandatory [% $EMAIL_CONTENT %] variable when creating your theme to show the content of your emails. [% $EMAIL_CONTENT %] contains information specific to each standalone email, essentially everything between the header and footer, such as details related to shoppers, payment, billing, delivery/fulfillment, activation, subscription, etc.

The content that is specific to each individual email will be included inside your theme, as per your choice.

The following customization tools are available in the theme editor:

• HTML and text support: 2Checkout sends the relevant version of the theme automatically, depending on whether a shopper’s email server accepts HTML messages or just plain text.
• Language support: Create localized versions of your themes that 2Checkout uses automatically depending on the language of the email we send out.
• Preview: Preview your changes at any time (note that the static body content in the preview window is replaced by individual email content, depending on the email to which you applied the theme).
• Send test emails: Send test emails from the preview window and verify how the theme is rendered on various email clients, devices, etc.

As soon as your theme is ready, apply it to your emails. Themes are optional, but you can use them to simplify email customization tasks by managing shared content in a single place rather than for each standalone email.

Recommended email theme structure

Header

Use this section to customize template elements such as:

• Company logo
• Company name
• Template header color

Body

This section should contain the largest chunk of information in the template. This is also where you must place the [% $EMAIL_CONTENT %] variable.

Footer

Use this section of the template to include specific information about your company and/or services that might prove useful to your shoppers, such as:

• Contact email address
• Company address
• Phone number
• ZIP code

HTML vs. Text

Email Editor supports both HTML and plain text email templates. Using HTML email templates requires that your shoppers’ email servers support the HTML format.

Best practice

To avoid email delivery errors, we recommend that you always set a plain text version of your emails as a backup. This way, if a shopper’s email server does not support HTML, they can still receive the plain text version.

Emails

2Checkout sends out emails on your behalf with content that is specific to the event triggering the email. By using the Email Editor (no matter the type of access Standard/Advanced), you can view the content and the theme applied, preview and send test emails (basically stay up to date with the emails that your shoppers and partners receive).

Editor use cases

Create new themes

To build a new theme from the ground up, click New theme and use the editor to add theme elements:

1. Select the theme language.
2. Add your HTML and CSS code to the editor.
3. Check out the documentation area to find out what variables you can include in your theme.
4. Click Copy to language to copy the new theme content to multiple languages. 
   
   • 2Checkout does not provide localized versions for custom templates you create. Should you need localized versions for your own templates, add the localized versions manually to the Email Editor, for each language.
5. Click Save when you are done. Alternatively, click Create new theme to save a copy of the theme.

Customize themes

Alternatively, click Customize on a default theme and then click Create theme copy to build a theme based on the existing structure. You cannot modify default themes.

Preview themes

Once you are done editing a theme, click the Preview button to see what the template will look like to your shoppers and/or resellers with the theme you just edited. For preview only, we will be using static email content – acting as a placeholder for the specific email content automatically included (depending on the email the theme is assigned to).

Customize emails

To customize an email, select the desired email category and email type and click Customize on the draft you want to edit. If the only one available is the 2Checkout default one, you will need to click on Create draft copy to generate a custom draft. On this custom draft, you can:

1. Change the draft name.
2. Choose a theme to apply to your draft (this step is optional, as you can choose not to apply themes at all).
3. Click Save to apply the theme.
4. Select the draft language you would like to customize.
   
   • 2Checkout does not provide localized versions for custom drafts you create. Should you need localized versions for your own drafts, add the localized versions manually to Email Editor, for each language.
5. Edit the subject line if you want to change it. Add/edit the HTML and CSS code in the editor. Check out the documentation to find out what variables you can include in your email (there is one distinct set of variables available for each of the emails). Preview your email even before saving the changes you performed (upon clicking Preview, you will also be asked to choose the theme you would like to preview the email with).
6. Click Save when you are done and Activate the draft (for that specific email) when you feel that version is ready to be sent to your real shoppers.

What is PCI DSS?

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of global security standards designed to ensure that ALL companies that accept, process, store or transmit credit/debit card information and/or sensitive authentication data maintain a secure environment and customers and their data are protected no matter where they shop and what channel they use.

Most small merchants can use a self-validation tool to assess their level of cardholder data security.

The PCI DSS is administered and managed by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) (www.pcisecuritystandards.org), an independent body created by the major payment card brands (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and JCB). The payment brands and acquirers are responsible for enforcing compliance, not the PCI council.

To whom does the PCI DSS apply?

The PCI DSS applies only to merchants that want to place orders via credit cards. All other payment methods available via API do not fall under PCI DSS compliance.

The PCI DSS applies to ANY organization, regardless of size or number of transactions, that accepts, processes, transmits or stores any cardholder data. Using a third-party payment processor does not exclude a company from PCI DSS compliance. However, it does lower their risk exposure and consequently reduces the effort to validate compliance. There are four merchant levels (SAQ-A, SAQ-B, SAQ-C, SAQ-D) based on the number of transactions/card schemes (VISA, MasterCard)/most recent 12-month period.

Are there any penalties for non-compliance?

Yes, there are. The payment card brands may, at their discretion, fine an acquiring bank up to $500,000 per month for PCI compliance violations. The banks will most likely pass this fine along until it eventually hits the merchant. But more devastating than fines, credit card companies can also revoke the right of a merchant to process credit card transactions, providing a “virtual death sentence” for many companies.

What do 2Checkout merchants need to do to be compliant?

To be PCI compliant, merchants need to submit self-assessment questionnaires (SAQs) based on their business environment and implementation type.

The PCI DSS Self-Assessment Questionnaires (SAQs) are validation tools for merchants and service providers that are eligible to evaluate and report their PCI DSS compliance via self-assessment. There are a number of different SAQs available that are intended to meet the needs of particular types of environments. 

In which category do 2Checkout merchants fall in?

Based on the type of integration and the overall number of transactions forecasted for a 12-month period, 2Checkout merchants need the following PCI compliance level:

SAQ A is recommended for merchants with less than 20,000 transactions per year (Level 4) and mandatory for those that transact over this threshold.

Specific questions about compliance validation levels and what you must do to validate your SAQ should be addressed to the acquiring financial institution or payment card brand. Below are the major credit card brand compliance programs:

• American Express: www.americanexpress.com/datasecurity
• Discover: www.discovernetwork.com/fraudsecurity/disc.html
• JCB International: http://partner.jcbcard.com/security/jcbprogram
• MasterCard: www.mastercard.com/sdp
• Visa Inc: www.visa.com/cisp
• Visa Europe: www.visaeurope.com/ais

VISA and Mastercard compliance validation levels for merchants

Cart type/merchant level 

*ASV = approved scanning vendor

Overview

Control the subscriptions that you're selling and provide deeper insight and granularity into their post-sale evolution from the Subscriptions page. 

This section allows you to:

• Streamline subscription management by focusing all actions on a single, standalone page.
• Centralize relevant subscription info and statistics, as well as end-user details.
• Keep a close eye on subscription evolution.
• See historical subscription data.
• Update credit card information.
• Configure custom billing amounts for a number of upcoming billing cycles.
• Display the total value of subscriptions in the default transfer currency.

Availability

The Subscriptions section is available to all 2Checkout accounts. Read here how you can grant access to the Subscriptions section to the users of your account.

The 2Checkout REST API 6.0-oas3 can be accessed in Swagger Hub.

The documentation contains:

• All resources and calls are split by the HTTP method
• Examples of inputs and outputs, with errors
• Full schema documentation for all objects used across the 2Checkout REST API 6.0-oas3

Overview

The Affiliate Network module can help you generate extra revenue with the help of an external sales force our affiliates can bring. Use the marketing power of affiliates to sell more and increase your revenue and consumer base. Merchants in the 2Checkout network make up to 25% of their revenue via affiliates.

The Affiliate Network can help you:

• Boost sales. According to statistics from the 2Checkout system, a merchant selling mainstream software can increase sales by 10%-15% on average when leveraging the 2Checkout Affiliate Network.
• Associate yourself with strong voices in the industry.
• Get worldwide product and brand awareness. Our affiliates speak every language in the world and can recommend your products to their local or worldwide audiences.
• Have your products sold by other companies working with 2Checkout. See cross-selling for more details.

Get started with the Affiliate Network

Enable the Affiliate Network module

1. Go to Affiliate network -> Settings.
2. Decide how to approve your affiliates.
   
   • Manually approve each affiliate (you need to periodically review the Pending Relationships section and analyze affiliate partnership requests). By choosing a Manual approval policy, you can easily filter the affiliates in your program and focus on developing partnerships with the ones that match your requirements.
   • Let 2Checkout approve them automatically following a review process.

Commission

Specify the commission you are willing to offer for each successful sale (pay-per-sale model). The default commission is 25%. You can offer an affiliate commission of up to 75%. Change this commission according to your policy. All of the settings enumerated here can be modified at a later date. Contact 2Checkout directly if you wish to offer affiliate commissions larger than 75%.

Affiliates Network Settings

There are three distinct option menus:

1. Affiliates Network General Settings - the initial Affiliates Network General Settings configured when you activate the module. The default cookie life is set up for 120 days and represents the interval of time during which you are willing to award your affiliates a commission for sales they refer to. The countdown for the affiliate cookie life starts when shoppers click on affiliate links. You can modify cookie life from 30 to 180 days. For instance, if the cookie life is set at 120 days and the referred sale happens after 110 days, the affiliate gets the commission. If the sale happens after 130 days, the affiliate doesn't get any commission for that particular referral. Tip: From our data, most of the purchases take place within the first 24 hours, but for the affiliates' comfort, you can set the cookie life to its maximum: 180 days.
2. Affiliate sign-up settings. Define the commission lists your affiliates are automatically assigned through Link Source. For example, if you plan a marketing campaign offering a preferential commission to new affiliates, you will be able to automatically assign all new affiliates to a defined commission list. All affiliate sign-ups from the link specified in the Link Source field will be automatically assigned to the commission list you previously created for this campaign. Affiliate sign-up links and pages can be created from the Build your network menu.  
3. Create/edit a commission list. When activating the 2Checkout Affiliate module, you will already have a commission list created: "Default List". You can either edit that or create one or several new commission lists based on the products you sell through affiliates. The same product can be assigned to more than one list. The default commission for a list is 25% but you can change it according to your policy.

You have the possibility to define different commissions for each purchase type:

• new purchases
• trials (first purchase with a trial customer acquisition model; Trial can be free or paid and trial period can be customized, minimum period 7 days, default 30 days)
• trial conversions (the first conversion after the customized trial period expires)
• renewals (the first billing cycle after trial conversion in case of trials, or after purchase)

You can also define the number of renewals for which affiliates will be commissioned, or maintain the commission applicable for all subscription renewals.

In case you set the affiliate commission to 0 (zero), affiliates won't receive any commissions or notifications for customers' orders. Un-commissioned orders will not be registered in the affiliate reports, but are tracked in the Merchant Control Panel as orders generated by the affiliate. 

4. Terms and Conditions. Define your own Terms & Conditions regarding the affiliate marketing practices that your affiliates should adhere to. Enable the Add custom terms and conditions option and use the editor to insert and format the terms & conditions. Click Save settings when you're done and your affiliates will see the terms & conditions when they request a new partnership. The terms and conditions are subject to compliance approval, following a review done by 2Checkout. Once we approve or reject the custom terms and conditions, you will receive an email notification. Network cross-selling discount controls the incentives you offer for your products when used as cross-selling options by other merchants (which act as your affiliates, in this particular case).

Discounts

Inside a commission list, you can allow the assigned affiliates to generate discount coupons from their own commissions and specify the maximum amount for the discount. You enable affiliates to control the price of your offerings within a specified range and provide potential customers with better deals. The price difference is deducted from the affiliate commission. This type of marketing is ideal for affiliates running coupon/discount-oriented websites. Allow Affiliates the freedom to offer discounts from their own margin. This can help boost conversion rates on their part.

Credit affiliates for renewals 

The option to credit affiliates for renewals allows you to credit the 2Checkout affiliate that originally referred a sale with their commission for license renewals of the same product(s). The commission for license renewals will be the same as for the original sale. Enable this option if you sell software products that support license renewals / SaaS products.

Affiliate account statuses

Affiliate accounts can have one of the following statuses:

• New - the affiliate account hasn't had any sales yet as it was just created
• Active - the affiliate account has active sales and ongoing activity
• Dormant - the affiliate account is in dormant mode following extended periods of inactivity 

Dormant account behavior 

• Affiliates can log in to the 2Checkout Affiliate Control Panel.
• The buy links they generated continue to work.
• Their partner relationships are still active.
• They won't receive any accounting emails while their account is marked as dormant.
• While their account is dormant, they see a notification in the 2Checkout Affiliate Control Panel informing them about the account being under review.
• As soon as we finish reviewing an affiliate account's activity, we remove the dormant status and inform the affiliates whether they need to take any further action.

Overview

Use 2Checkout's built-in upselling capabilities to give your customers the chance to purchase superior offerings once they add specific products to the cart. Extra options, feature-rich SKUs, newer product versions, enhanced support, and other recommendations bring additional value to customers while boosting your revenue.

Overview

Learn how to get help from dedicated teams across 2Checkout for your inquiries.